Chapter 7: Departure

Chapter 7

Departure

"My f-father's spell book... It's g-g-gone!"

Hiro's Point of View

Deafening silence.

That's what I would describe the four corners of this meeting room. The silence and stillness of the people in this room began after the argument. The confusing argument.

The masters decided to keep their mouth shut while some of them looked at Lady Solaris then to Xael and back to her. Kichi and I were still partly disarrayed. I can tell that Kichi couldn't absorb what happened because he wasn't used to arguments that's why he just fiddled with his fingers and look down.

I darted my sight on Lady Solaris who was still standing in the same spot she was. She kept an emotionless face but I could see the corner of her lips trembling.

Everyone diverted their attention to her when she sighed and walked to her designated chair. Her sigh wasn't even that loud, it's just really quiet that I could almost hear my breathing.

"My apologies for what happened, lords and ladies. I most certainly insist a new meeting to be held tomorrow at dawn as we handle with certain...matters if it is alright with everyone," she said. The masters didnt respond and just quietly headed to the door.

"Come on, son," my Dad called me.

"Master Takishima, I would like a moment with the young knight," Lady Solaris cut in. My Dad looked at me then to her but eventually agreed and nodded.

"Of course, my lady," he said and placed his right hand on his chest and bowed. Lady Solaris nodded and Dad left.

"Kichi and Xael, a word, please," she called.

"C-can I stay, my lady? I wouldn't want something bad to happen on hime again since she just woke up from her sleep," Bree requested and Lady Solaris nodded.

"M-my Lady. I apologize for disrupting the meeting," Xael said. Lady Solaris only half-smiled.

"Children, you have been appointed by the highest position in the council to embark in a journey to find Guardians," she said.

"W-what about me, my lady?" Xael asked

"Your mother will agree...eventually. Anyway-"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Kichi exclaimed as he raised his hand like a student asking permission to ask a question.

"Yes, Kichi?" Lady Solaris asked.

"These Guardians. What exactly are they?"

"Every 50 years, 9 beings coming from different kingdoms across the land are born with powerful gifts that could protect the whole land of Ethiopia and they are called the Guardians of Magic," she said

"But what if they are used with evil intentions?" Kichi asked once more.

"Their power only fully awakens when they are summoned by 5 of their predecessors. The purpose of having them from different kingdoms is so nobody teams up to destroy the other," she said

"How can we know if they are activated? We don't know who the last Guardians were," I asked.

"We can handle that part. There are 9 guardians because there are also 9 circles of Hell. They are the guardians of magic but they are also the guardians of Hell. Before you leave tomorrow at dawn, I want you all to have this," she said and summoned a black compass with a moon engraving at the back.

"This is a compass that will lead you to two of the past guardians. They will give you a map that will lead you to the present guardians and will bestow you important things for your journey. Tell them that I sent you upon seeing them and they will explain everything to you. Rest now so you wake up early tomorrow. You may now go, Hiro and Kichi," she said. Kichi and I both placed our hands on our chest and bowed. We both headed to the door and before closing it, I heard Lady Solaris still talking to Xael.

"Xael, I'm not sure if your mother will approve of this but I...."

-•-

I looked at my watch and it showed that it was 11 in the evening. We'll leave by 6 in the morning tomorrow and I was packing up my things that I was going to bring during this...adventure. There still aren't any news about Xael going with us and I still have no clue of where we'll go first. I kept thinking about what kind of people the Guardians are when we meet them and about how strong they were. It would be fascinating to see one in action but I don't know who the past ones are.

While thinking about the upcoming journey, I was startled with a loud explosion coming from the room below me. It wasn't just one explosion because my room kept shaking and several things kept falling from multiple bursts of energy. Before any of my things break, I decided to check what the explosion was so I opened my door only to see guards going towards the floor below me. I called one of their captain and told them that I will take care if the situation because I have a feeling that this is one of Kichi's shenanigans again.

When I followed where the sound of explosion was coming from, I realized it was from the castle's Potion Room which belonged to Kichi's father. When I arrived to the door, I was greeted by the sound of breaking from something fragile. I opened the door out of panic because I thought that someone might get hurt but I was greeted with another huge smoke explosion that blurred my eyes.

Upon entering the doorway, I could hear someone blindly throwing potion bottles. The room was covered with different colors of smoke which had their own distinct smell that turned out to be disgusting when combined all together. There were broken and empty potion bottles on the floor that can wound anyone who is not careful. There are also books that were obviously thrown without care that one of them even got wet and one of the cabinets was even lying on the floor.

"Kichi? Are you alright in here?" I called him while coughing out the smoke. His name naturally came out of my mouth because I couldn't think of anyone else that would be this messy and is related to potions and the likes.

He didn't answer me so I decided to walk forward while swaying the smoke with my left hand and pinching my nose with my right. Before I could even walk farther, I accidentally kicked something soft and heavy from below so I quickly went over to click the light switch on and opened a window.

I went over to what I accidentally kicked but I couldn't see what it was since the smoke wasn't clearing out yet. I bended my knee to have a closer look and it was a body laying on his chest.

Oh no.

Is he dead? Is that what the smell here is disgusting? I took a step backward while still pinching my nose and grabbed a nearby stick and poked it. It wasn't moving. I decided to roll the body over with my stick but it suddenly came to life which scared the heck out of me that also made me scream.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" he screamed

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" I shouted back.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" he yelled and cried like a child.

"Stop shouting! What happened to you?! You look like a pig that bathed in mud!" I scolded Kichi.

"My f-father's spell book... It's g-g-gone!" he cried.

I mentally face-palmed and sighed. I stood up and placed my hands on my waist and looked at the room with disgust. I looked back at Kichi and he was still sobbing while phlegm was trickling from his nose. I scrunched my nose because of the very horrid sight of this very room and his face. I sighed again for the second time and grabbed one of his legs.

"Wha-what are y-you doing?" he asked while I pulled his weight out of this loathsome place while using one of his legs. I pulled him towards his room upstairs so he can take a bath. Yes. I did pull him up the castle staircase. Not my problem even if I could hear him groaning in pain as his head hits the floor. Yep. Not my problem.

"Where are you taking me, Hiro?" Kichi asked while looking bored. He was still being pulled by me.

"You need some bath, you stink," I answered

"Ok then," Kichi shrugged and wiped out his phlegm that was coming out of his red nose.

"H-hiro? Do you need assistance?"

Both of the us turned to where a girl has spoke and realized that it was Bree.

"Oh, no need Bree. Why are you still up this late by the way?" I asked and scratched the back of my head.

"Hime couldn't sleep so I-" she couldn't continue what she said because she yawned. My heart fluttered for an unknown reason. Maybe it was because it was adorable.

"You need to sleep," Kichi suggested while still laying on the floor.

"Oh no, not yet. I would like to accompany the two of you. Where are you two going exactly?" she asked while placing her hands on her back and smiled. I was about to respond when a guard suddenly arrived.

"Sir Hiro. Is the mess taken care of?" the guard asked.

"Yes, thank you. Your help will no longer be needed," I said so the guard placed his right hand on his chest and bowed. I nodded to dismiss the guard and turned my eyes back to Bree.

"Well, we're already here," Hiro said and pointed Kichi's room behind him.

"Can I take a bath now?" Kichi asked and stood up. Hiro sighed and said, "Tomorrow we will let your place clean up and maybe your stupid book can be found. Is that ok with you?"

"Yeah, okay," Kichi said and finally entered the room.

"I should be going now, then," Bree chirped.

"Is that so? Let me be the one to accompany you then. If that's okay with you," Hiro insisted. Bree smiled and chuckled a little bit and nodded.

-•-

Xael's Point of View

Why won't she just let me go with Hiro and Kichi? Mom always treats me like a kid so I think this mission is the only way to show her that I'm strong enough for her and that I can live up to her standards.

I made up my mind. I'm going with them, with or without her permission nor anyone else's.

*Ting Ting*

The sound of the grandfather clock on my room echoed. It's 12 o'clock already. I know I told Bree that I would go to sleep but I couldn't shake the thought of dismissing this mission.

I decided to pack my things for tomorrow in a case to keep my mind busy but I still couldn't sleep after that. I just layed in bed until a ray of sunlight hit my eyes and groaned because it was hurting my eyes. I stood up and my head was spinning because I forgot that didn't get much sleep. I went over to the window to draw the curtains and go back to sleep but before I could even do that, I panicked because the carriage that Hiro and Kichi will be using are now outside. I quickly grabbed my case and exited my room. I made sure no one didn't see me because I still didn't hear from Lady Solaris or mom if I could join them or not. I was almost caught when I saw Dad going to my room. Lucky for me, one of the guards informed him that the General was looking for him.

I successfully got out if the castle but it was really tiresome. I hid by the nearby bushes because I saw Hiro walking towards the carriage but He was stopped by one of the kingdom's hostler. I took the chance and ran towards the carriage and placed my case on the back. I almost fell from the carriage when I heard Kichi yelling.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he happily shouted while sitting on a levitating case along with their other things that was floating. I started panicking because there wasn't a nearby hiding place. Kichi was getting closer as my eyes darted on the horses. I decided to shapeshift into one of them so he wont see me but I forgot that I placed my case on the back. He might notice it. He was getting closer and closer and my sweat was dripping heavily. Lucky for me, he crash landed on the carriage that made a mess so he couldn't identify what was theirs and what was mine.

"Owwww!" he cried. I saw Hiro turned his head from the hostler he was talking to and his eyes immediately widened and ran towards the carriage. I heard him scold Kichi about what he had done with the mess so he levitated the cases again along with mine in a much more organized way.

Hiro went back to the hostler because they weren't finished talking while Kichi continued fixing the mess. When both of them were done, Kichi went inside the carriage and Hiro went to the coachmen's perch. The hostler walked by and scrathed his head because there were four horses. He thought that he brought three horses but just decided to tie to other horse up to the carriage and gave a go signal to Hiro and they both immediately went on their way.